Lucha Underground Has Already Been Extended To A Third Season, So Let’s Rejoice

Just as we’re enjoying the return of the internet’s favorite wrestling show, we’re hit with more good news. According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, there was a backstage meeting where the cast and crew were informed that the show would be renewed for a third season.

Here’s what’s just as important, though: Apparently the talent was also notified that Lucha Underground would soon be available for iTunes distribution, so the rest of the world that doesn’t have the El Rey network can watch. This is huge. I’ve been wondering why we don’t have more access to the show, especially considering that the fanbase is probably fully of heavy internet users. The only difference between LU and NXT is the fact we have access to the latter. Even before the WWE Network, NXT was on HULU and was already becoming a cult show. Now that we’ll be able to watch Lucha Underground outside of having to find the El Rey network, the show’s popularity should increase dramatically.

In the meantime, you can still tune into season two and enjoy the best wrestling show not enough people are watching.

Here’s the thing: Jim Cornette is the avatar for WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE THE SIGN ON THE MARQUEE SAID WRESTLING NOT SPACE FLYING HIP HOPPING TIDDLYWINKS YOU DAMNED MILLENIALS I CAN’T HEAR MY MURDER SHE WROTE OVER YOUR RACKET. He created and ran Smoky Mountain Wrestling, which is probably the most non-Lucha Underground promotion of the past 30 years. His idea of a trios match is the Midnight Express and Big Bubba vs. the Rock and Roll Express and Dusty Rhodes with Cornette and Miss Atlanta Lively/Big Mama/whichever one was Ron Garvin in drag hanging over the ring in little cages, winner gets five minutes with the loser’s manager. In other words, not the most likely fan/advocate of lucha in general.

Then mix in supernatural and telenovela elements, and there’s no way it’s going to go over for him. And because he’s Jim Cornette, he’s not going to go on a podcast and say “eh, not my cup of tea but it’s all good in the hood” or whatever white people with a vague awareness of hip-hop culture would say in that spot.

You might as well as Ole Anderson what his favorite Wrestling Society X moment was.

I posted this elsewhere (One Man Gang’s Facebook page if you need to know) and feel it sums up why critics are getting wrong, including Cornette.

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The mistake a lot of critics make is that they view it as a wrestling show on television instead of a television show about wrestling.

The vignettes are totally different to everything else in wrestling, the characters take the gimmick to a logical conclusion within New Era Kayfabe (we all know it’s a work, so just accept the characters themselves at face value and suspend disbelief in the same way we really know Grant Gustin isn’t actually The Flash, for example).

I mean, Drago (in the context of the show) is literally a dragon who takes human form to fight in The Temple and it just works very well. Mil Muertes is the best “Death” character since Undertaker at his creative peak and almost the entire roster fill a role that doesn’t step on the toes of another.

Dario Cueto took the heel authority figure and played it perfectly, without overdoing tropes, going against what would make sense for his character (unlike WWE’s Authority who after successfully getting the belt off Roman, which was their end goal, put him in a position the very next night to eventually win it back. It’s self-defeating) and only interjecting himself when necessary.

Pretty much all of the stories make sense within the context of the show, they have logical conclusions and everyone comes out looking better than they went in, win or lose.

Jim Cornette has his vision of what wrestling should be and that’s OK (he’s allowed his opinion and has earned to right to have it heard), but anything remotely “not old school wrestling mentality” is dismissed so vehemently that it ends up being taken with a pinch of salt and a “Well, that’s just Cornette being Cornette”, with no-one really taking it on board because he does it all the time.

LU is a tremendous example of evolving wrestling and what a show-with-wrestling can be, a great introduction to the world of Lucha Libre for those being initiated into it and, from bell-to-bell, some of the best and most consistently good (which is important) in-ring wrestling of the current era.
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Yes. I remember them still filming when Grave consequences was on. Probably even further.
This is great news because they could film the whole next season before this season is even over and on and on … they could film several seasons and have them in the can, utilizing the workers they have while they have them.
Imagine a situation where someone like Ricochet shows up in wwE to be squandered into nothingness when there is another season of Prince Puma in LU wrestling instant classics that will come out the following season!

The show being available on iTunes is BIG news. They should do a release of season 1 at a discounted price to help people who haven’t caught up to be able to do so, as well as long-time fans having access to the show for archiving.

I’m still easing the burden on my DVR after recording all the eps during El Rey’s marathon. It was a really effective promotion in that it let my wife and I know that El Rey has a bunch of decent cheeser movies playing regularly. It is our greatest discovery since finding out that Hallmark Movies and Mysteries shows Columbo and Hart to Hart.

I fucked up and saw posters made for Ultimate Lucha with each poster displaying a matchup from the card. My reaction was “Huh? Who’s th.. wait what? Oh! Holy shit!!!”. And so I couldn’t resist any longer. I checked out spoilers to see how they got to those insane matches.

Sufficed to say I think renewing for season 3 was an easy decision. Because I think season 2 is going to blow away season 1.

In S1, l made the mistake of seeing spoilers during the All Night Long match, but it was so good i actually thought Johnny Rudo was going to win the whole damn thing and jumped out of my seat when Puma pulled that win out of his ass at the very last second. S2 saw the WHOLE GODDAMN TEMPLE get to their feet when Ivalise rolled Mil up for 2. Tell me again, Mr Cornette, how LU is destroying kayfabe aka suspension of disbelief.